A Change Of Heart
by AnotherAnonymousFool
Summary: She didn't even know what her own heart wanted. She wanted Marceline to go away and leave her, she had already left once, so why should it be any different? But now, she was beginning to change her mind. (Bubbleine. I know I've got like 3 stories going at the moment, but I've been working on this for quite a while and it's my favourite!)
1. The Annual Candy Ball

**A/N: I have been working on this for ages! It was supposed to be the first story I released but I kinda lost heart, then I found it again today and finished off the first chapter. (Constructive criticism would be appreciated so, so much because I really want this story to turn out my best)**

Marceline scrunched her eyes up as she felt a tongue lick her face as she woke up.

"Ugh..." she mumbled, reaching her long, grey arms up to find out what was sitting on top of her.

Her hands fell upon curly fur, on a small body as she opened her eyes.

The vampire chuckled softly. "Schwabl." she moaned, picking her zombie poodle up and placing it beside her on the bed before she propped herself up on her hands.

Schwabl barked, causing the vampire to raise a hand to her forehead. "Not straight after I wake up Schwabl, that's not cool."

The poodle grunted slightly and went silent.

Marceline picked him up again and held him in front of her face. "My best friend's a dog." she sighed, Schwabl's back feet dangling just over her legs.

Schwabl sneezed on her face and she screwed her face up yet again. "You gotta stop expelling bodily fluids on me little dude, that's _really_ not cool."

She looked at Schwabl, who seemed to have made his eyes bigger and cuter, she smiled at him and pulled him close to her chest. "Aw, I still love you."

Schwabl thrashed about in her arms and she gently put him back down on the bed, watching him run towards the hole in her bedroom floor that housed a ladder, leading straight to the front room and she sighed again.

"You wanna go down there don't you?"

The poodle barked again and wagged his tail, sticking his tongue out excitedly.

Marceline rubbed her eyes and swung her feet out over the edge of her bed, jumping off and walking over to the hole, she then picked Schwabl up and began to float.

She floated downstairs into the living room. As she put Schwabl down she heard a knock at the door.

"You're like a psychic, Schwabl." she laughed, pulling the door open.

Finn stood hopefully at the door, he was smiling until he layed eyes upon the vampire.

"Woah, dude...you look rough." He observed.

"Huh?" Marceline replied, glancing down at her outfit.

She was wearing an old top and her favourite pair of blue shorts. "I look fine, man." she mumbled.

Finn pulled his backpack off and stuck his hand inside it, sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth as he tried to find something. He pulled out a mirror and held it up to Marceline's face.

She studied the mirror intently, her face looked paler than it usually did, and the dark circles under her eyes gave away how little sleep she had been getting, her hair was a mess as she had spent a lot of time actually trying to get to sleep.

"You look tired, Marceline." he said, sympathetically.

The vampire ran a hand through her long, black hair. "I _am_ tired, Finn. What's up?"

Finn stuck his hand in his bag once again, pulling out a slip of paper. He held it in his mouth while he replaced his backpack.

He then pulled the slip of paper out of his mouth and handed it to Marceline, who took it warily, her eyes scanning the paper.

"Annual Candy Ball?" she asked, confused. "and what makes you think I wanna go to this?"

Finn shrugged "I dunno, I'm handing them out as a favour for Peebs."

Marceline sighed. "Trust Bonni to not even hand out her own invitations."

"Who's Bonni?" Finn asked, obviously not knowing the princess of Candy Kingdom's true name.

"Sh-ju-never mind." She shook her head. "Look, Finn, when the princess asked you hand out invitations, I'm pretty sure I'm not on the guest list."

"Sure you are!" he smiled. "It says 'Everyone in Ooo is invited'."

Marceline smirked. "She obviously doesn't know I'm back." she mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Finn asked.

"Nothing." she smiled. "Maybe I'll come, I dunno."

"Why wouldn't you come? I mean, it's gonna be awesome!" Finn punched the air above his head.

Marceline laughed quietly. "Maybe...when is it?"

"Tonight." The human smiled. "So...we'll see you there?"

"Yeah, why not?" she shrugged.

* * *

"Don't hang that gumball there!" Princess Bubblegum ran her hands through her hair, feeling more stressed out than last year, if that was even possible.

Every year, the Candy Ball drove the princess crazy and this year it was even worse. Peppermint Butler was taking his annual leave on the day of the Ball and she had to organise everything completely on her own.

"Cinnamon Bun! Don't eat the ceiling decorations!" she yelled.

Cinnamon Bun grumbled and climbed down the ladder, mooching over to help some banana guards lay out the candy table.

"PB! I handed out all the invitations!" Finn came bounding into the hall, Jake following closely behind.

"All of them?" Princess Bubblegum asked, confused.

She pulled out a tiny chalkboard and solved a few equations on it, mumbling.

"But I gave you one more than the citizens of Ooo. Who did you give the last one out to? I don't want any troublemakers at my ball, Finn!" she yelled, stressing out again.

"I gave it to Marceline...she won't be any trouble Peebs."

"M-marceline?" The princess spoke quieter, freezing on the spot.

"Yeah...is everything okay?" Finn asked, confused.

Princess Bubblegum sighed. "Yeah, everything's fine. Cinnamon Bun stop eating everything!" she yelled at him again.

"Everything's ready, your majesty." A banana guard approached her and bows. "You are free to retreat to your chamber and get changed."

"Thank you." she smiled, before turning back to Finn. "I'll see you later Finn, I assume you will be accompanying me?"

Finn shook his head. "I-I'm going with Flame Princess..."

"Oh, right!" Bubblegum tried not to sound disappointed.

She didn't even have a date to her own ball.

"What about Jake?" she ventured, verging on deperate.

"He's going with Lady Rainicorn, you know that." Finn scratched his head in confusion. "Don't worry about having a date princess. I'm sure someone will ask you to dance." he smiled again, waving goodbye.

* * *

The Candy Ball wasn't for hours but Marceline was already making her way to Candy Kingdom.

She wore her grey button up shirt with dark jeans and her favourite red boots, an outift she hadn't worn for about a hundred years.

A queue was already beginning to form to get into the castle, but she floated above the front gates and headed for a small but tall tower near the back of the castle.

The window was wide open, just the way she had left it.

Marceline breathed out in an attempt to hide the feeling in her stomach, it was a mixture of dread and excitement.

She gently floated closer to the window, peering inside.

Inside the tower was Princess Bubblegum, wearing a puffy, pink dress, her head slumped down on her desk.

Marceline admired how perfectly her hair sprawled across the desk, even if it was made out of bubblegum.

The vampire floated inside, landing silently. She approached the princess slowly, still trying to work out what she was going to say.

She reached out a hand, leaving it inches from Princess Bubblegum's shoulder.

She cleared her throat "Bonn-" she began.

Marceline was cut off by the princess spinning around on her chair quickly and slapping the vampire harshly across the face, leaving a bright pink handprint.

"Wow...that hurt." She raised her grey hand to her now pink cheek and rubbed it gently.

Princess Bubblegum was angry, even if she did look slightly stupid in her dress, she stood up and glared at Marceline.

"One hundred years, Marceline!" the princess seethed.

"I-uh-um." For once in her thousand year old life, Marceline didn't have a witty comeback or remark.

"I don't know if childish vampires can count but that's a long time!" Bubblegum crossed her arms angrily. "You could've been hurt, you could've died!"

"Yeah but I didn't."

"Oh, be quiet, Marceline!" Princess Bubblegum screamed, before pausing to catch her breath and soften her voice slightly, but keeping it cold. "Why are you even here?"

"It's rude to ignore an invitation." The vampire smirked.

"Isn't it obvious that invitation wasn't for you?! I didn't even know you were back!" The princess rose her voice again, not caring if the whole kingdom could hear. "You would've thought I would be the first person you told!"

Marceline floated up above Princess Bubblegum's head, chuckling softly. "Yeah, you'd think." she changed her voice back to angry when she caught sight of the princess's expression.

"You expect me to come see you and then treat me like this when I do!?"

"Yeah, well you should've come earlier. Then maybe I wouldn't have hit you." Bubblegum turned back around to face her desk, avoiding Marceline's gaze.

The vampire floated around to place her face infront of the princess, even though she was upside down.

"I suppose this means my invitation to your little shin-dig has been revoked." she shrugged.

Princess Bubblegum huffed. "Do what you want, I don't care anymore."

"Well that's no fun Bonn-"

"Stop calling me that! It's not my name anymore!"

Marceline laughed. "It's always gonna be your name, whether you like it or not." she floated around the side of Princess Bubblegum and stood behind her, the princess turning around to look at the vampire this time, who bowed.

"As you wish, your majesty. But, now I know you don't want me there, I _will_ be at the Candy Ball." she opened the princess's door and floated down the hallway, heading to the hall.

* * *

"Hey, Princess!" Finn called as soon as Princess Bubblegum entered the now crowded hall

"Hello, Finn. Did I miss anything?" She had been a while in her room getting over Marceline's little visit.

What was the vampire even thinking?

"No, not much. The Earl of Lemongrab has named himself DJ though, he's playing some pre-war tunes! Also, he wants you to make an official announcement or some junk."

"Very well." she nodded, catching sight of a girl standing next to Finn, made completely of fire. "You must be the Flame Princess." she smiled.

Flame Princess smiled back at her. "Yeah, I take it you're the famous Princess Bubblegum."

Princess Bubblegum blushed. "Well, I wouldn't say famous. But yes, it's a pleasure to meet you. Enjoy your evening." she walked up to the makeshift stage that Starchy had spent so long building and climbed up it to join the Earl.

The Earl nodded at her and spoke into a microphone, drawling his voice out as normal. "Everybody..." his voice got higher in pitch as he spoke, as usual. "Silence!"

The hall fell quiet and everybody looked at the stage, the Earl handing the microphone to Princess Bubblegum, who took it and walked to the middle of the stage so she could be seen.

"Hello, Candy Kingdom." she smiled, her eyes scanning the crowd to enjoy the sight of everybody paying attention to her.

It wasn't that she enjoyed attention, she just enjoyed feeling important to people.

A small scream could be heard from the back corner of the hall and everybody turned round, the crowd slightly parting to reveal Marceline, whose fangs were almost buried deep inside Chocoberry, who was flailing to get out of the vampire's grip.

"Ahem." Bubblegum cleared her throat loudly into the microphone, causing the vampire to turn around and flash a smile at her, dropping Chocoberry and letting the traumatised strawberry run off.

"Now that we have _everybody's_ full attention." The princess began again, finding it unusually hard to drag her thoughts away from the girl in the corner. "I'd like to welcome you to the annual Candy Ball."

A few scattered applauses came from the crowd.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to say that normal Candy Kingdom laws apply. Troublemakers..." she found her eyes travelling over to the corner again, against her own will. "_...will_ be asked to leave."

Princess Bubblegum pulled away from the microphone, enjoying the round of applause that ensued after she had finished talking, she smiled and walked to sit at a table, not feeling in the mood to dance, despite her smile.

* * *

The princess hadn't moved all night, and it was almost time for the ball to end.

Her mind had flitted between Finn, who was having a great night with the Flame Princess, after he had Flambo place a charm on him to avoid him getting burned and Marceline, who had also not moved for the entire night, she was floating in the same corner, observing what was going on.

Little did the the princess know, but Marceline had been thinking about her aswell.

The vampire sighed, regretting that she hadn't said anything more to Princess Bubblegum, who had looked thoroughly miserable all night.

She sighed even more when the music stopped, assuming that the night was over.

Marceline was slightly suprised when the Earl, who she despised, spoke into the microphone.

"Pairs" his voice grated Marceline's sensitive ears. "everybody!"

It was suprising how quickly everybody in the room got into pairs, the princess sighed again and slumped her head down on the table.

This was turning out to be the worst Candy Ball ever.

The music still hadn't restarted and only when the Earl called her name did she look up, to see everybody staring at her.

"Are you not dancing, your majesty?" Flame Princess asked her.

Princess Bubblegum shook her head slowly.

"This is..." The Earl began. "Unacceptable! I will refuse to commence the dance without the princess of Candy Kingdom."

"I don't have anyone to dance with." she mumbled.

"Pardon?" The Earl asked.

"I don't have anyone to dance with, okay?!" she yelled, everyone in the room shuffling awkwardly. Apart from a certain vampire, who floated silently over the princess and landed behind her.

"Dance with me." she spoke up, making Princess Bubblegum jump and turn around.

"What makes you think I'm going to do that?" she asked, coldly. "Besides that's not how you ask a girl to dance. You still have no manners."

"It's either me or-" Marceline nodded her head towards the other side of the room, where the Ice King was waiting, hope filling his face.

"I'm not dancing." Bubblegum assured Marceline, who once again nodded her head to bring the princess's attention to the room filled with couples, each and every one of them hoping to dance with their partner.

She felt a twinge in her heart, she had to either suck it up and dance with the girl she hated most in all of Ooo right now, or disappoint her people.

Princess Bubblegum sighed, mooching into the middle of the hall, Marceline following behind her.

"Fine." she spat. "But one dance and that is _all_...and I never want to see you in my kingdom again." The princess jumped slightly as Marceline's cold hands landed on her hips.

"It's a deal." Marceline scoffed, removing one hand and using it to link both of the princess's hands behind her own neck. "Like this Bonni."

"Stop calling me that." Bubblegum mumbled, as the music began. She recognised the pre-war song and her heart sank.

The vampire smiled, moving herself and in turn Princess Bubblegum to the music slowly. "Have it your way, Bonnibel."

"Ugh, go back to Bonni, please."

"Nah, Bonnibel sounds better." Marceline teased, her forked tongue leaving her mouth to grace the air inbetween their faces.

Princess Bubblegum recoiled away from the vampire's tongue. "Put it away, please." she groaned.

"You used to love my ton-"

"Stop it right now Marceline or I swear to Glob I am walking out." The princess seethed, hoping Marceline hadn't noticed the tiny blush that was spreading across her cheeks.

The vampire laughed out loud before bringing her voice down "Hey, I like this song." she observed, inching a tiny bit closer to Bubblegum.

"Well, shut up and listen to it then."

The girls danced in silence for about another half a minute before Princess Bubblegum sighed and gave in, locking her arms tighter around Marceline and resting her head on the taller girl's shoulder.

Marceline widened her eyes in confusion but said nothing, secretly enjoying having the princess close to her again, she admired the way the princess's body slotted into her own, how her chin was perfectly level with her shoulder and how her own arms could reach the lower regions of Bubblegum's back without even stretching.

The vampire closed her eyes and breathed in silently, she didn't need to breathe but she didn't regret it as soon as she inhaled the smell of bubblegum that she had to admit triggered a lot of memories.

Marceline didn't know but the princess had also closed her eyes, breathing in a completely different scent.

Princess Bubblegum smiled slightly as Marceline's unique smell of her home, the Nightosphere, strawberries and some sort of odd-smelling perfume was absorbed by her senses.

"Hey, FP, look at the princess." Finn mumbled to Flame Princess, who was in his arms, similar to the way Bubblegum was in Marceline's.

The couple turned around so the Flame Princess could look at the unusual pair, she smiled brightly. "Oh my Glob...that's so cute. I thought they hated each other."

"T-they do." Finn chuckled.

"Clearly not that much, look at that smile. I bet Marceline's got the same one on her face too. Has anything happened between them in the past, Finn?"

Finn shrugged. "I...don't know, Marceline's been gone for a hundred years, she only got back a few weeks ago.

"You should try and find out...maybe it would help them." Flame Princess pulled away to look Finn in the eye and smile.

Marceline had stopped moving and just stood still, music still playing with the princess still in her arms.

She opened her mouth to speak and she was cut off before she could even make a sound.

"I said shut up, Marceline." she felt the princess's grip tighten and swallowed her words.

Princess Bubblegum had obviously forgotten about Marceline's heightened sense of hearing as she whispered into the vampire's shoulder, quieter than a whisper. "One hundred lumping years."

The feeling of excitement and dread that had been in Marceline's gut ever since she arrived at Candy Kingdom went into overdrive, she swore she could feel her body heat up and her heart start beating, she hadn't felt this alive since she was...well, alive.

She chose not to out the princess on her whispering and decided to keep it as her little secret.

The music faded out and couples throughout the room began to break apart, a few leaned in to kiss one another. But, one couple stayed in each other's arms, not even noticing the room had been filled with talking yet again. That couple was Marceline and Princess Bubblegum.

Marceline's heart sank as she realised she had to break this up. "Uh-Bonni..." she mumbled.

Princess Bubblegum opened her eyes and observed the situation, instantly pulling away from the vampire as if she was contagious.

She had been hugging Marceline...did the vampire put some kind of weird, hypnotic spell on her?

The vampire almost laughed at how quickly the princess pulled away, although it hurt a little.

Marceline began to float above Princess Bubblegum. "Thanks for a fun night, Bonni. I won't be coming back to Candy Kingdom, as you wished. See ya."

Princess Bubblegum's eyes followed Marceline as she floated out of the hall quickly, her eyes then beginning to sting with tears when she realised she wouldn't see Marceline again.

"Ugh." She mumbled to herself, she didn't even know what her own heart wanted.

She had wanted Marceline to go away and leave her, she had already left once, so why should it be any different?

But now, she was beginning to change her mind.


	2. The Picnic

Princess Bubblegum woke up, she couldn't tell the time but she knew she was up later than was expected.

The Candy Kingdom always stayed in bed later the day after the annual ball but Princess Bubblegum had never stayed in late, it wasn't right.

Her mind flashed back to the night before, after Marceline left, everything became a tear filled, confusing blur. She had retreated to her room in some sort of an effort to sort her mind out, but to no avail. She was more confused than ever.

A knock on her wooden door echoed around her room, making the princess realised she had a headache.

"Who is it?" she called, suprised at how weak her voice was. She must've cried a lot last night.

A banana guard pushed open the door slightly and stuck his head inside.

The banana guards had been covering for Peppermint Butler since he left. They were a bit more clumsy than the peppermint, but they still got the job done, regardless.

"Will your majesty be taking breakfast this morning?" he asked, politely.

"No, it's okay." She cleared her throat and her voice came out slightly clearer.

He nodded and his face disappeared again, the princess sighing as soon as he was out of earshot.

She lifted her hands to rub her eyes when she realised she was holding something, she straightened out the black piece of material and laid it out on the bed in front of her.

"Oh for Glob's sake!" she groaned as her eyes met the shirt that Marceline had brought her over a hundred years ago.

Her mind flashed back to that night, after the concert. It was the night she began seriously thinking about Marceline as more than a friend, it was the night they first kissed, the night they first-

Just the thought of it sent shivers down Princess Bubblegum's spine, but she found herself smiling as she reminisced.

_"I really enjoyed the concert. Thanks for flying me home, Marcy." Princess Bubblegum smiled, enjoying every moment she spent with the vampire._

_Marceline stood in front of the princess, her expression blank._

_"Marcy?" The princess was confused._

_A grey hand slowly reached for a pink one and entwined their fingers, Bubblegum blushing slightly._

_"B-Bonni...do you ever think of me?" Marceline spoke softly, but every single word resounded in Princess Bubblegum's mind._

_"All the time, you're my best fri-"_

_"You know how I mean." The vampire's voice becoming more urgent._

_"Why?"_

_Marceline squeezed the princess's hand tighter. "Because I have to go away...for a little while."_

_Princess Bubblegum launched herself at the vampire, wrapping her hands around her friend's cold neck. "Don't leave." she whispered._

_"I have to, but I need to know what I'm coming back to."_

_The princess pulled away slightly, moving her hands off of Marceline, who did the same._

_"W-what do you mean, Marcy? You'll come back to this...nothing will change, things are perfect, right?"_

_Marceline sighed and shook her head. "No...we can't stay like this anymore. I love you Bonni."_

_"I love you t-"_

_"You know how I mean!" The vampire repeated._

_Princess Bubblegum blushed, raising a hand to Marceline's face and stroking it with her thumb._

_"I-um-uh" Marceline stammered._

_Bubblegum locked her arms around Marceline's neck and moved her face until it was centimetres away from the vampire._

_She breathed in Marceline's scent, noting her absence of breath, as she was already dead._

_The vampire did the same, enjoying the sweet smell of bubblegum._

_Marceline's mouth was still open, in a mixture between suprise and excitement._

_"Oh do shut up, Marceline." The princess laughed, almost into Marceline's mouth._

_Marceline enjoyed the feeling of the princess's voice, imagining what it would be like to kiss her, she partly pitied the princess for not feeling the same so took her turn._

_"Do you not like my voice?" she smirked, making sure her low voice travelled into the princess's mouth._

_Bubblegum's breath hitched in her throat, her heart almost stopping, while Marceline's almost started._

_The vampire couldn't wait any longer and dived in, pressing her lips tightly against Princess Bubblegum's._

_Marceline's forked tongue traced the princess's lips, who instantly allowed the vampire's tongue to battle with her own._

_They parted to let the princess breathe, and she was almost panting from the passion of the kiss._

_"So, what am I coming back to, Bonni?" Marceline asked._

_"You can come back to whatever you want if you keep kissing me like that." she mumbled._

Princess Bubblegum shook her head, trying to get the memory out of her immediate thoughts. It was one of her favourites, but left her feeling depressed afterwards.

She knew that she had let Marceline down that next morning, but she truly was unsure of her own mind back thend.

A lot of pressure would've have been put on their relationship, had they decided to pursue one. Also, Marceline got grumpy when she didn't get what she wanted and, although she refused to admit it, Bubblegum knew that she would always let the vampire win.

Candy Kingdom would've fallen to pieces and ended up like whatever kingdom Marceline was supposed to be running.

But, she didn't think Marceline would leave for a hundred years...and even worse, not tell her when she came back.

The princess's thought train was disrupted when yet again, knocks came from the other side of her bedroom door.

She quickly hid the shirt under her duvet and wiped the quickly forming tears from her eyes before calling out. "Come in."

The princess relaxed a bit when she saw Finn enter the room.

"Hey Peebs." he smiled, walking towards her bed. "How come you're not up yet?"

"I-uh...just overslept." Princess Bubblegum rubbed her forehead, trying to get the image of her least favourite vampire out of her mind.

"Okay..." Finn said, warily. It was very uncharacteristic of the princess to still be in bed at this hour. "We're all going to the lake today! Will you come?"

Bubblegum smiled at the opportunity to focus on anything other than Marceline and nodded eagerly. "I'd love to, Finn. Can I just get changed first?"

The human boy laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, of course." He began to slowly edge out of the room, Princess Bubblegum rolling her eyes.

Finn left the room but stuck his head back through the door almost instantly after. "See you in a minute." he smiled, ducking out again.

The princess chuckled and swung her feet over the edge of the bed, her feet landing in a pair of pink slippers. She reached for her bedside table and pulled a dressing gown around herself.

As she stood up, she felt a dull ache around her hips.

"Huh?" she mumbled, lifting up her pyjama shirt and inspecting her left hip.

There was nothing there visibly but as she cautiously prodded her hip, she could feel tiny indents.

The princess was confused before the previous night popped into her head again, the only person that these indents could belong to would be Marceline.

She ran her hand over the indents again, the indents almost making her feel like Marceline was holding her again.

The princess scolded herself for touching them a second time but reflected on the fact that the vampire had left marks on her.

How tight did the girl grip her?

* * *

Marceline plucked at her bass, trying to keep her mind from straying away from her music.

She hummed quietly in tune with the bass but once again, her mind flickered back to the night before.

Princess Bubblegum had started the display of affection, _she _was the one that pulled their bodies so close together.

Did Bonnibel..._miss _her?

Marceline pushed the thought way out of her mind almost as soon as it arrived.

There was no way the princess missed her, after all, she was the one that had pushed the vampire away.

But, she didn't push her away last night.

"No, Marceline, no!" The vampire groaned to herself, earning a small growl from Schwabl, who was curled up on the floor.

"I wish you could talk, little guy." she smiled slightly at her furry companion, who had started to wag his tail.

Marceline put her bass to one side and patted her lap, the zombie poodle jumping up and sitting on her lap, facing her.

"What do I do, Schwabl?" Marceline trailed her voice off, gently stroking behind his ear.

Schwabl tilted his head and licked the vampire's hand affectionately.

She sighed, "Like you could tell me."

Her door knocked, as it rarely did and she looked up.

The poodle jumped off of her lap and barked at the door.

"Shush." Marceline scolded him gently and floated towards the door.

Who would even come to her cave?

She pulled the door open and looked confused at the flaming figure standing before her.

"Marceline...the vampire queen?" Flame Princess smiled.

"Yeah..." Marceline replied, still confused. "You're the princess of the fire kingdom, right?"

The princess nodded, Marceline pulled open the door further and invited her in.

"I think our dads are probably friends." Marceline chuckled, kicking the door shut.

"Probably." Flame Princess rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Finn's asked me to invite you to our picnic today."

"P-picnic?" The vampire laughed. "You guys really want a vampire at your picnic?"

"Why else would we invite you?" Flame Princess smiled. "Plus, I'm...k-kinda a fan."

"Really?" Marceline had lots of fans, but she was always suprised to meet one.

"Yeah...I've got your albums."

"I'll sign them for you sometime." Marceline picked up her hat and gloves that she kept by the door and pulled them on. "So, where is this picnic?"

"It's at the lake but everyone's waiting at Finn and Jake's. We're going from there."

* * *

Princess Bubblegum settled down on the floor at Finn and Jake's.

BMO waddled over to them and sat down with a tiny _thunk_.

"Is this everyone, Finn?" Bubblegum asked, confused as to why Finn and Jake were being oddly quiet.

The pair of heroes were sitting on the sofa, leaving a visible seat between them and every now and then, Finn would chortle slightly and Jake would smirk at him.

"No, actually." Jake replied. "Flame Princess should be here soon. I think she's bringing...a friend."

Finn almost burst into laughter again, causing the princess to stand up and face them.

"Right, I demand to know what is going on here! If you don't tell me then I-"

Footsteps could be heard behind her as Flame Princess ascended the ladder into the living room.

She couldn't hear the vampire come into the room but she felt the temperature in the room drop.

Marceline froze as she laid eyes upon the figure, opening her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

She glanced at Flame Princess who had sat down inbetween Finn and Jake, smiling at her.

Princess Bubblegum cringed, she had a pretty good idea about Flame Princess's friend and she wished that her own assumptions weren't true.

Slowly, she pushed herself off the floor, standing up and turned around, her heart almost stopping as she laid eyes on Marceline, who was still frozen in mid-air.

"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Jake whispered to Flame Princess.

"Yes, it'll be fine. They'll lighten up once we get to the lake." Flame Princess whispered back, the trio on the sofa still staring at Marceline and Princess Bubblegum.

"M-marceline." The princess greeted the vampire coldly, but much to her dismay, her voice stuttered a little.

Marceline simply nodded in her direction, trying to avoid eye contact and floated over to the sofa. "So, are we going?"

Finn nodded nervously and walked over to the table, picking up his backpack and putting it on.

Jake jumped off the sofa and picked up the picnic basket. "Let's go, y'all!"

* * *

The group had been at the lake for about an hour and after they had finished up the picnic basket Marceline had retreated to the shade of a tree while the rest of the group were throwing a bright red ball to each other.

The picnic had been awkward but Marceline and Princess Bubblegum had exchanged polite words when the conversation called for it.

Flame Princess had taken it upon herself to mend the broken relationship between the girls, and so far, she was doing a relatively good job.

As cool as she may have seemed, the vampire still had trouble focusing her mind when the princess was around.

She reflected on this as she rested her head against the bark of the tree and observed Princess Bubblegum.

The princess was standing still until the ball was thrown to her, a smile across her face. An infectious smile that made Marceline's stomach flutter.

The vampire moved her head forward to get a closer look at the princess, something which she scolded herself for and smacked her head back against the bark.

She couldn't keep doing this, she had to either get away from the princess or, even worse...apologise and hope they could still be friends.

Marceline knew she shouldn't have left for a hundred years, or even not tell Bubblegum she was back, but Bubblegum was the reason she had left.

Her stomach fluttered again as she cast her mind back to that morning.

_Marceline woke up in an unfamiliar bed, with just her underwear and t-shirt on._

_She also had somebody in her arms._

_The vampire inhaled and instantly recognised the smell of bubblegum and smiled as she realised she was holding the princess, who was fast asleep._

_She leant forward and kissed Princess Bubblegum's neck gently, leaving her lips on the princess's warm skin, allowing the sweet taste to linger._

_"Huh?" Bubblegum turned around to face the vampire, making sure she was still being held tightly in long, grey arms._

_"It's just my way of saying good morning." Marceline smiled at the princess, who smiled back but tried to avoid eye contact._

_She didn't mean for the vampire to pick up on her obvious avoiding of eye contact but Marceline moved her face closer to Princess Bubblegum's._

_"Good morning, Marcy." The princess's smile began to fade slightly._

_Marceline leaned in and closed her eyes, kissing Bubblegum softly once and pulling away. "What's wrong?" she asked, opening her eyes again._

_"I-never mind. When do you have to leave?"_

_"Whenever I want, what's wrong Bonni?" The vampire became concerned._

_"I suppose I can tell you." Princess Bubblegum sighed._

_"You can tell me anything." Marceline assured her, beginning to rub the princess's back._

_"I don't think I'm ready for..." Bubblegum waved her hand, gesturing to the situation the girls were in at the moment. "This."_

_"W-what?" The vampire pulled away slightly. "What's there to be ready for? We like each other, right?"_

_The princess nodded. "Do you realise how much pressure would be put on me if we pursued a relationship though, Marceline? I mean, not only would I have to keep you a secret-"_

_"Why would you have to keep me a secret?"_

_"The candy people would never accept me like this, plus we're not even married and we've...we've..." she struggled to get the words out._

_Marceline propped herself up on one hand. "So you don't want this? You don't want me?"_

_The princess mirrored Marceline, sighing heavily. "I never said that-"_

_"Yes you did!"_

_"I need to think, Marceline." Bubblegum was close to tears._

_The vampire nodded and threw the duvet off of herself and the princess, swinging her feet over the edge of the bed and standing up._

_"What are you doing?" Princess Bubblegum asked as Marceline began to pull her jeans on._

_"Giving you time to think." she huffed, fastening her jeans and pulling her boots on._

_"W-what do you mean?"_

_"J-just forget it Bonni. Forget last night ever happened, you probably will anyway." Marceline kicked off the floor and flew out of the window, leaving Princess Bubblegum still propped up on the bed._

Marceline was pulled out of her own memory by a sharp pain in the side of her head.

"I'm sorry, Marceline!" Flame Princess called.

The vampire looked down to her side to see the red ball the group were throwing around and guessed that it must have hit her in the head.

"Can you go get the ball?" Flame Princess asked Princess Bubblegum.

The princess raised a finger and pointed it at her own chest. "Me?" she asked, confused as to why Flame Princess would send her and not go herself.

The burning princess nodded and Princess Bubblegum began a slow walk to the tree, trying to prolong the time before her obviously awkward conversation with Marceline.

"Oh great." Marceline mumbled when she saw that Princess Bubblegum was the one who was coming to get the ball, the vampire picked up the ball and played with it in her hands, admiring the red colour.

"Can we have the ball back, please?" Princess Bubblegum asked, feeling relatively calm.

Marceline chuckled, the sound of the vampire's laugh sent shivers down Bubblegum's spine, was she playing vampire games again?

Bubblegum caught the ball as it was tossed to her, staring at the vampire in confusion and anger at her almost overwhelming urge to taste the lips that were now fading from a smile to a frown.

"What are you staring at?" Marceline asked, angrily.

"I don't even know." came the reply. "Look, whatever creepy vampire hypnotist game that you were playing last night and are clearly playing now is not going to work on me."

Marceline was confused, she wasn't playing a mind game. Was the princess getting as sidetracked as she was when they were in each other's company? So much that she would blame the vampire of messing with her head?

"I'm not playing mind games."

"How do I know that?!" Princess Bubblegum was starting to get angry, she wasn't going to let Marceline mess with her mind.

"I can't mess with free will!" Marceline began to yell, she was being accused of messing with the princess's head and it confused her even more than the princess herself. She laughed "If I could, do you think I would've let you leave the first time?!"

"Oh that's great Marceline, blame it all on me!"

"Well...it is kinda your fault!" Marceline stood up and threw her arms up.

"I had a kingdom to run, I had responsibilities!" Princess Bubblegum felt so angry she could hit the vampire again. Yet, on some level, she wanted to apologise and cry into Marceline's arms. The thought was quickly brushed away with Marceline's next reply.

"I'm royal too, Bonni! I also have a kingdom you forget...but of course, you don't care about anything other than yourself and your stupid kingdom! Sometimes you've gotta look at the big picture, and see that it hurts other people when you put the kingdom before them. You would never see me putting my kingdom before someone that was supposed to mean the world to me!" The vampire tried to fight back the tears building in her eyes.

"What kingdom?! You don't even run yours! Where is your kingdom?! Marceline the queen of the endangered species because their leader is too busy hanging around with 13 year olds and harrassing princesses to care about them!" Princess Bubblegum got so angry she didn't even realise what she had said until it came clumsily spilling out of her mouth.

The princess clamped her hand over her mouth, wanting to wish the words back into her mouth but they had already been said and they had already hit Marceline in the chest...hard.

"I don't think your plan's working very well." Jake mumbled awkwardly.

Princess Bubblegum overheard him and spun around. "What?!" she yelled. "What plan?!"

The trio all dropped their gaze, staring at their feet.

The princess span back around on her heels, angrily. Pausing when she realised that Marceline had gone.

* * *

Marceline threw open the door to her house, taking Schwabl by suprise and causing the dog to jump.

She kicked the door behind her and slumped down on the sofa, holding her arms out for the dog to climb on her lap.

Schwabl did just that, somehow sensing that his owner was upset.

The vampire let tears trickle down her face as she ran her hand through her furry friend's coat, watching her tears drop into his fur.

The dog moved closer and nuzzled into her chest, causing the vampire to smile before the tiny movement of her mouth caused her to start sobbing silently.

"Where did I go wrong, Schwabl?" she spoke through her tears.

He simply stayed still, providing Marceline with something to occupy herself with other than crying.

She stroked Schwabl slowly, trying to stop her tears from falling.

"I can't do this anymore little guy. When I was travelling I managed to get over her, I was relatively happy."

An idea popped into the vampire's head. "That's it!" she wiped the tears from her eyes. "We're gonna go travelling again. We can't stay in this part of Ooo anymore."

Marceline placed Schwabl on the sofa next to her and straightened up, moving off the sofa.

Schwabl growled quietly as the vampire floated upstairs to her room.

She pulled a suitcase off of her wardrobe and blew the dust from it.

On the suitcase was several stickers from places she had been, but one of them stood out over all of the others.

It was a small pink sticker, with Candy Kingdom imprinted on it, but that wasn't why it made Marceline want to cry even more.

Over the sticker, in black marker, was a heart.

Princess Bubblegum had drawn it on a long time ago, on one of her rare visits to Marceline's cave.

The vampire dropped the suitcase down the hole to the living room in disgust.

A few seconds after the suitcase landed on the floor, the door knocked for the second time that day.

"For Glob's sake." Marceline mumbled, floating into the living room.

"Go away!" she yelled at the door, not caring who was the other side of it.

The door knocked again, harder than before.

"What part of go away do you not-" Marceline pulled the door open, pausing when she laid her eyes on the princess the other side of the door.

"-understand..." her voice trailed off.

The vampire suddenly realised that her eyes were probably still red from crying and wiped them instinctively. "What do you want?" she hissed.

Princess Bubblegum cleared her throat.

On her way to Marceline's caved she had planned out the entire argument, so many things she wanted to say but when she saw the vampire, everything just dissipated from her mind.

"I-um..." she stuttered, cursing her tongue for letting her down.

Marceline rolled her eyes and closed the door.

The door stopped when Princess Bubblegum jammed her foot in it, causing the vampire to re-open the door and glare at the princess.

"I owe you an apology." was all she could manage to say, her eyes exploring Marceline's face.

It looked as though Marceline had been crying, but, then again, she had an excuse to after the way the princess had treated her.

"Don't worry about it." Marceline dismissed her.

"Marceline." Princess Bubblegum pleaded. "Please."


	3. Bubblegum's Apology

Princess Bubblegum stood awkwardly with her foot still in Marceline's doorway.

She gulped, trying to hide the fact that just being around the vampire left her short of breath and gave her a crushing feeling in her chest.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"If I'm not allowed in Candy Kingdom, you're not allowed in here." Marceline replied, coldly.

"Then I'll apologise out here." Bubblegum straightened out her dress and removed her foot from the door way, breathing out slowly in a vain attempt to calm herself down.

It didn't work, her heart was beating so hard she thought any second now it would burst out of her chest and her palms began to sweat.

"I'm listening." Marceline smirked, floating just off the ground in a laid-back sitting position.

"Marceline, I've both said and done things that I'm not proud of. In the past and today...I was angry at you today and yesterday because you left for so long! You didn't even tell me you were back! That really hurts Marceline. I thought...I thought I meant more to you than that." Bubblegum spoke quietly.

"Is this your apology? Blaming me for you being angry?" The vampire scoffed, it was typical of the princess to never take responsibility for her own actions.

"I wasn't finished." The princess explained, bluntly before carrying on.

"Anyway, I've...come to realise that I was the reason you left for so long and perhaps you avoided coming to see me because you were afraid I would be angry, and I am angry! So angry." Princess Bubblegum raised her voice.

"Get to the point, Bonni." she groaned.

"The point is, I'm sorry and I wish to pursue a friendship with you." Princess Bubblegum finished up, not realising she had been playing with her hands the whole time.

Marceline's heart sank, she had expected so much more from this apology. When the princess had showed up and wished to apologise, the vampire imagined her confessing her feelings while the princess did the same and they would fall into each other's arms and pick up where they had left off.

That would've been the only way Marceline could've been convinced to stay in Ooo. However, the princess's wish to only be friends had made up her mind.

"No can do." Marceline shook her head, walking back into her house, leaving the door open.

The princess took this as an invitation and stepped inside Marceline's house.

She hadn't set foot in this house for a long, long time and everything triggered a memory.

Different things made her mind flash back to different memories, of days her and Marceline spent, listening to music, playing music or even playing with Schwabl. Every single day the princess had wished would last a lifetime. Memories she thought she would cherish forever, now they only brought her pain.

The _clunk_ of a suitcase opening brought Bubblegum back to the real world and she scanned the room until she saw the vampire opening the suitcase.

Princess Bubblegum feared the worst. "Why do you have the suitcase? Why can't we be friends?"

"Because you were right...I have a kingdom to run." Marceline floated upstairs.

Bubblegum rushed to the ladder, placing her hand on a rung and shouting up. "You can't leave!"

She stepped back when Marceline floated back down with a pile of clothes in her arms, the vampire dropped them in the suitcase and straightened them out.

"Sure I can." she replied, snapping the suitcase shut.

"But...what about your friends?"

"What friends?" Marceline laughed. "I terrify them all, the only people that aren't scared of me are the vampires...and you were right...they need me."

"I'm not scared of you." Princess Bubblegum ventured. The truth was, the princess was scared of Marceline, but not because she could be attacked at any moment, because Marceline made her feel different. The princess wasn't in control of what she said or what she did when she was around the vampire, her scientific, logical mind turned to mush.

Marceline sighed, it was happening again. Princess Bubblegum was starting to get upset and her heart melted. She had to get away before something happened, something they would both regret.

"Look, Bonni...I'm leaving. I've got...responsibilities and I've been neglecting them."

"That's the best part of you." Bubbegum once again let words clumsily slip from her mouth.

"W-what?"

"Never mind." The princess brushed it off quickly changing the subject. "If you really want to sort out your kingdom then come to Candy Kingdom later tonight, I'll get some couriers and we can establish links so you can run your kingdom from right here. You don't need to leave."

The vampire's stomach started to feel light again, Princess Bubblegum was putting her kingdom behind her friends, for once.

"Wait, you want _me-_" the vampire pointed to her chest. "-to come to Candy Kingdom...tonight?"

"After business hours...yes." Bubblegum gulped, wondering whether she would regret her decision in a few hours, when Marceline was told to arrive.

Marceline landed on the floor, glancing at the princess in suprise. "You don't have to do this."

"If it will keep you in Ooo...where your friends are, then I'll do what it takes. It's my duty to our mutual friends."

The princess's cold reply destroyed any hope that had been building up inside of Marceline ever since she arrived and the vampire nodded slowly.

"Fine, now leave." Marceline replied equally as coldly, bringing an awkward tension to the room.

"Very well." Princess Bubblegum nodded.

* * *

Marceline ran her hand up and down her axe bass, trying to make sense of what had happened earlier.

Had the princess really invited her back to Candy Kingdom?

Schwabl tilted his head at her, as if trying to say that he was equally confused by the princess's offer.

The door knocked for the third time that day.

"Are you lumping kidding me?" Marceline mumbled under her breath as she put her bass down on the sofa and stood up, slowly walking towards the door.

Her mind raced as she neared the door, who could it be?

It could be the princess again. The vampire sighed, if it was she was probably coming to take back her offer.

Marceline braced herself and pulled the door open, breathing a silent sigh of relief when she realised that the princess wasn't standing on her doorstep.

"Hey." Flame Princess smiled.

"Yo..." Marceline was confused as to why the princess of Fire Kingdom was on her doorstep for the second time that day. "What's up?" she asked, cautiously.

"I wanted to see if you were okay, can I come in?"

The vampire nodded and stood aside, allowing the princess to walk inside.

"So..." Flame Princess began.

Marceline closed the door and walked back over to the sofa. "So?" she asked.

"Are you okay?"

The vampire nodded again. "Yeah..." she tried to keep her voice consistent, she had learned many tricks about convincing people of things that weren't true and this was the easiest and the one she used most frequently. "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

Flame Princess had never spoken to anyone about their problems and suddenly felt unsure on how to address the situation.

"Um..." she spoke quietly. "The princess..."

Marceline dropped her head, her long black hair covering her face. "Ugh." she moaned. "...that."

The princess grimaced and stood in front of Marceline. "What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

The vampire lifted her head and used her hand to push her hair back off of her face. She then dropped her hands to rest on her own knees. "We were friends...nothing more." Accepting that her and Bubblegum always were friends hurt Marceline more than she thought it would.

"Why aren't you friends now?"

"It started with a concert..."

_"WOO!" Marceline yelled as the band finished their second to last song of the set._

_The vampire glanced down at the princess, who seemed to be enjoying herself too. She was jumping with the rest of the crowd._

_"Having fun, Bonni?" Marceline yelled again, yelling being the only way anyone could hear each other._

_"I am!" Princess Bubblegum yelled back, punching the air before turning to face the vampire. "When you suggested a concert in the Nightosphere to be honest, I was skeptical. But, I'm actually enjoying it down here! The only problem would be some of the fans...they're more than distasteful!"_

_Marceline chuckled softly at her friend, she had to find a problem with everything. "Just enjoy the music!" she replied._

_The princess did just that as the band began to play their last song._

_The entire crowd began to get more violent and hyped than they were before, Marceline included._

_She closed her eyes and screamed along with the rest of the crowd._

_When she re-opened them she realised that Bubblegum had gone, she had been pushed towards the crowd barriers by a few aggressive demons._

_"Bonni!" She called into the crowd, trying to push her way past when a few absurdly tall, muscly demons stood between her and the princess._

_Princess Bubblegum suddenly found herself surrounded by demons. One of them had a sick smile painted across his face._

_"What's a pretty little thing like you..." he moved closer to the princess, raising a hand to trace Bubblegum's jawline. "...doing in a place like this."_

_The princess glanced around, trying to find Marceline. Only to realise that the vampire that had been accompanying her was no longer in sight._

_"S-stay away from me." she warned. She slowly backed away but bumped into another demon._

_The first demon chuckled and approached the princess, still laughing._

_"Hi-yah!" A foot came out of nowhere and kicked the demon in the gut, causing him to crouch up and roll on the floor._

_Marceline crouched down to the floor when the demon was and grabbed the back of his collar, pulling him a little way off the ground to hiss into his ear._

_"I wouldn't do that if I were you." the vampire seethed._

_The demon glanced to look at the menacing figure holding him and jumped in suprise. "M-Marceline! How's things?"_

_"Shut up." she spat, driving his face into the floor, grunting as she climbed off of him and wiped herself down._

_Marceline stood behind Princess Bubblegum and draped her arms over the princess's shoulders, pulling her back to the spot they were standing previously._

_"You gotta be careful here, Bonni. Not everyone in the Nightosphere is as chill as I am." she spoke softly but loud enough for the princess to hear._

_The vampire was still trying to calm herself down, she could've lost Princess Bubblegum back there and although being around the pink princess confused her, she was sure she'd never lose the princess...as long as she could help it._

_Princess Bubblegum grabbed Marceline's arms and moved them down to her waist, so she could raise her own arms and cheer the band on._

_This action caused the vampire to blush but nevertheless, she kept the princess close to her body, resting her head on top of her friends, smiling._

The vampire couldn't tell anymore of the story to the Flame Princess who was listening intently.

"That's more than friendship Marceline...was it always like that?" she asked, becoming increasingly interested in Marceline's affairs.

A soft chuckle came from Marceline and she shook her head. "Nah, it built up to that. That night was the night things...happened..." she blushed slightly.

The burning princess caught on and bowed her head, becoming a little bit embarrassed. "Oh." she observed.

Marceline stood up, beginning to unpack things from her packed suitcase. "But," she picked up the suitcase and simply emptied it onto the floor, tossing it aside. "...it doesn't matter because she pushed me away the next morning. Said she wasn't ready or some junk, so I left."

"You just left?"

"I had to leave anyway, to do some vampire business but...I took on more jobs once I got to the Nightosphere and ended up going for a hundred years. It helped me clear my head."

Marceline suddenly realised that she had told the Flame Princess almost everything about her relationship with Princess Bubblegum and began to stammer her words. "B-but don't tell anyone any of this okay?"

The princess nodded. "I know the feeling, you just feel so much you'll spill to just about anyone, it's cool. Your secrets are safe with me."

The vampire suddenly remembered that the princess was from Fire Kingdom, a kingdom that was known to be evil.

"Wait, aren't you evil?" the vampire asked.

Flame Princess laughed. "I'm supposed to be, but just because my dad hates everyone, it doesn't mean I do. You know that, don't you?"

Marceline laughed and nodded. "We've gotta stick together, I guess."

* * *

Princess Bubblegum paced the Candy Castle library, looking in the 'Vampires' section.

Her eyes fell upon a book about the Vampire Kingdom.

"Aha." she mumbled to herself and pulled it off the shelf, bringing it to the desk in the middle of the room and dropping it on the table with a loud _thunk._

The book was thick, so there was obviously a lot more to vampires than Marceline had previously let on.

The princess put her glasses on and opened the book, her eyes scanning the contents.

She was drawn to a section of the contents labelled "Vampire Kingdom: Royal Family."

Bubblegum's eyes travelled to the page number and she flicked through the book until she found the page she was subconciously looking for.

There were only two people on the double page spread and there were pictures of them both.

Princess Bubblegum managed to restrain herself from looking at Marceline's page, as much as she longed to read it and read up on Marceline's father.

His picture was a sketch of him in his usual suit, with an axe strapped to his back.

An axe that the princess quickly recognised as Marceline's bass. The vampire had obviously inherited it and crafted it into a musical instrument.

The princess smiled fondly, admiring Marceline's passion for music. She truly loved it when the vampire played the bass and sang, or even just playing the bass, or singing. In fact, everything she did made the princess smile-"

Bubblegum raised her hand to her forehead sharply as if trying to hit the vampire out of her head.

She tried to refocus and read the paragraph on Marceline's father.

"_Hunson Abadeer: Approximately 1000 years ago, Hunson Abadeer, the lord of the Nightosphere slaughtered the previous royal family of Vampire Kingdom and took over, mercifully sparing the citizens. However, Lord Abadeer could not rule both the Nightosphere and Vampire Kingdom at the same time. He gave the responsibility to his 18 year old daughter, Marceline Abadeer [See next page]. He returns to the Vampire Kingdom whenever his duties in the Nightosphere allow."_

The princess rolled her eyes, what a cruel thing to do to a Kingdom.

She breathed in before glancing at the next page.

There was a picture of Marceline, in an outfit she had never seen before, it was obviously an old one. The vampire was dressed in a long black dress that hugged her figure perfectly and a subtle, silver crown.

It was obviously her royal outfit. The princess found herself wondering if Marceline still owned it.

She shook her head, removing thoughts of Marceline in the dress and she read the paragraph underneath the photo.

"_Marceline Abadeer: Very little is known about Marceline Abadeer. Apart from the fact that she was given the kingdom as a gift to her father. His original intention being for her to use it for evil. Marceline spent a few years in Vampire Kingdom before leaving, claiming she was 'bored of this junk'. She returns to Vampire Kingdom whenever her duty calls, but she is often seen around Ooo, seeming to be ignoring her responsibilities."_

Princess Bubblegum sighed, but barely had time to finish the sigh before a small cough came from behind her.

She slammed the book shut, trapping her hand and squealing in pain and biting her lip, hard.

Peppermint Butler looked at her confused.

"What is it, peppermint?" she asked, a heavy breath escaping her lips in pain, trying to hide the fact that her hand was still trapped inside the heavy book.

"The couriers from Vampire Kingdom are here." he spoke slowly, becoming more confused about the princess's forced smile.

"Very well." she smiled, quickly pulling her hand from the book and following Peppermint Butler out of the library.

She observed her now red hand and sighed.

* * *

Bubblegum laid out the three separate sheets of requests from the Vampire Kingdom on her desk and read through them all carefully, her glasses still perched on her face.

She then glanced to the window, it was dark now, Marceline wouldn't be long.

The princess had to mentally prepare herself to see the vampire queen, knowing that her current state of being cool, calm and collected would dissipate as soon as Marceline flew through that window.

A mixture of everything the vampire did gave Princess Bubblegum serious doubts about their future. For example, when Marceline simply smiled, Bubblegum smiled too, no matter what her mood was like previously. When she smirked it was a different story, her smirk was so cocky and arrogant the princess wanted to wipe it off her face, but the only way she could think she wanted to do that was by kissing the vampi-

The princess scolded herself for allowing her mind to focus too long on Marceline and she refocused her attention on the sheets of paper in front of her.

Jeez, the vampire people were needy. Marceline needed to write a peace treaty to settle an entire war that had broken out in the kingdom.

"What'cha got there?" came a smooth voice from behind the princess, sending shivers down her spine.

She turned around and came face to face with Marceline.

The princess realised that although the vampire couldn't age, she looked significantly older than in the picture she had spent an embarrassingly long time staring at.

Marceline's face was paler than the picture and dark circles had formed around the bottom part of her eyes.

"Y-you look tired, Marceline."

The vampire was slightly taken aback by the compassion in Princess Bubblegum's voice and she suddenly felt self concious. Her eyes didn't give _that _much away...did they?

Marceline raised a hand to her face, slowly stroking it before floating over to a mirror and observing her own reflection.

She glanced at her own reflection before staring at Princess Bubblegum's.

The princess had turned back to whatever she was working on and began to scribble all over the pieces of paper.

Marceline admired how much the princess got into her work, how she would let the weight of the world on her shoulders and not give up until she solved the world's problems.

The vampire sighed almost silently and a smile danced across her lips.

She caught herself smiling and wiped it off of her face immediately.

"I am tired." she eventually replied to the princess, who hadn't even noticed her lack of reply.

"Maybe you should try getting some sleep."

Marceline smirked. "Well..." she landed on Princess Bubblegum's bed. "...if you insist."

"That wasn't what I-" The princess was about to scold the vampire when she realised how tired she had looked a few moments ago and just rolled her eyes. "I've got a list from your people."

Marceline linked her arms behind her head in a relaxed position. "My people?" she asked.

"You've got a lot of things to sort out, we'll start with this peace treaty...I assume you know about the war?"

The vampire scoffed.

"I take it that's a no." The princess groaned. "You really should pay more attention. You're exactly how the bo-" she cut herself off, hoping Marceline hadn't noticed what she was saying and continued writing the peace treaty.

"What book? You been researching me, Bonni?" Marceline teased, finding it easy to slip back into old habits.

"I-um" Princess Bubblegum stammered. "I did some research on your kingdom...if you _must_ know."

"Cool. There was a page about me, was there any pictures?"

"Yes...actually." The princess replied. "You were in your royal outfit."

"Ugh, not that junk." The vampire sighed.

"It wasn't junk!" Princess Bubblegum protested, perhaps a bit too loudly. "It...suited you, you looked nice. I don't know why you don't wear it more often."

Marceline chuckled, a chuckle that once again sent shivers down Bubblegum's spine. "I need you to sign this." the princess requested.

The vampire floated over, her head resting just above Princess Bubblegum's shoulder as she leaned down and signed the paper, their bodies almost touching.

Marceline tried to shake off how good it felt to be that close to the princess, while Bubblegum tried to control her blush as the vampire's stomach brushed across her back.

"You know, I'm glad we decided to give our friendship another shot, Bonni."

The princess was shocked at the forwardness of the vampire.

She took a second before replying. "So am I."

They were both lying, they both wanted more than friendship from the other but both were too scared to admit it.

**A/N: So...how's it going guys? I'm quite proud of this actually so R&R would be greatly appreciated, if I'm doing something wrong or you've got any ideas then let me know!**


	4. This is never gonna work

**A/N: There's a part in this chapter that is based on 'Awake' by Secondhand Serenade. 'Awake' is pretty much my Bubbleine ship song so I had to build the scenario in the song, by all means look the song up and listen to it, but it's not necessary c:**

It had been a week since Marceline's first 'meeting' with the princess at Candy Kingdom and they had made it a daily habit.

In the afternoon a courier would arrive from Vampire Kingdom with a list of demands for the princess who would then take them upstairs and study them for a few hours.

As soon as the sun went down Marceline would join the princess in her bedroom and together they would work together to fill out the requests.

Marceline had been bringing her bass too and would hum softly while Princess Bubblegum wrote various treaties and trade agreements.

Vampire Kingdom had never been in a better state.

If it was anyone else, Bubblegum would say they were taking advantage of her. However, something about Marceline made her impossible to be angry at.

Princess Bubblegum couldn't understand why she had been mad before, she had learned that maybe the way she had treated the vampire before was wrong.

She tried not to think about it often, she was honestly just glad to have Marceline back in her life.

Plus, the vampire's voice worked wonders on her stress levels after a busy day running her own kingdom.

Princess Bubblegum greatly looked forward to her late night meetings with Marceline, and today was no exception.

"Well, what do you propose we do about it, Starchy?" she sighed to the small man, who had been informing her of a crack in the kingdom's wall.

"We could patch it up with melted marshallow, but that would only be a temporary option, we need to commission some more candy rock, your majesty." he suggested.

"Very well, we will do just that." she nodded, waving the man off who bowed before scurrying out of the hall.

"Peppermint!" The princess called, prompting the peppermint to rush to her side.

"Yes, majesty?" he asked.

"Commission some more candy rock, please. Also, have the vampire couriers arrived yet?"

"Very well, your majesty. The vampire couriers have not arrived yet, it's very unusual for them to be late. Perhaps they don't require anything today." Peppermint Butler looked down at the clipboard he often carried around with him.

The princess's heart sank, if the vampire couriers didn't need anything then there was no need for Marceline to pay a visit to her bedroom later.

"Hm, perhaps." she mumbled, disappointedly.

"Would you like me to send a telegram to the vampire queen and tell her to not bother paying a visit tonight?"

Princess Bubblegum shook her head, racking her brain for something they may have overlooked on their previous lists.

"Do you still have the previous demand lists?"

"Of course, your majesty." Peppermint Butler flicked through the sheets on his clipboard and handed her six beige coloured pieces of paper.

"There may be some things we have overlooked from previous meetings. Leave it to me." she smiled, her eyes scanning the paper.

The peppermint looked at her confused. A week ago, she had audibly told the vampire to never return to the kingdom, now she was finding excuses to keep the vampire around.

He had his suspicions about the nature of their friendship in the past, he had walked in on the princess being held by the vampire on several occasions and had quickly escorted himself out although the girls had always insisted they were friends whenever he brought it up.

He sighed as he quietly padded out of the hall, wondering when Bubblegum would figure out her own mind.

* * *

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Marceline asked, feeling skeptical of the idea Flame Princess had put into her head.

"Yes! Finn tried it on me and it worked!" She opened the bag she had brought with her and handed Marceline a stack of pre-war horror movies.

The vampire flicked through the stack, laughing at some of the titles. "These aren't even scary, FP. You were scared of these?"

The flaming princess laughed with Marceline. "No, of course not. It was _me_ holding Finn."

Marceline had been spending a lot of time with the princess of Fire Kingdom, she seemed to understand the vampire's complicated relationship with her father, so it made sense for them to be friends.

The Flame Princess was also the only person Marceline had told about her feelings for Princess Bubblegum and the princess had been more than happy to help them rebuild more than a friendship.

However, when the princess had turned up on Marceline's doorstep with an idea to get Bubblegum to watch horror movies in order to terrify the candy princess so the vampire could hold her Marceline had been...less than impressed.

"Just put them on when you're done with your business-y things." Flame Princess smiled encouragingly at Marceline, who was still looking at the DVDs with a expression on her face that verged somewhere between amusement and confusion.

"This is _not_ gonna work." The vampire laughed.

"Just try it, what's the worst than can happen?"

"Uh, I could think she's scared and go to hold her and she pushes me away and never invites me back." Marceline explained.

"Marceline, she likes you. I'm serious." Flame Princess urged.

"You don't know that."

The princess smacked her hand against her forehead and sat down on the sofa which had been coated in foil to stop it from burning.

"Marce, you remember the dance, right?"

The vampire nodded slowly.

"_She _was the one who pulled you two closer together and when Finn and I were looking, she had the cutest smile on her face."

Marceline's stomach fluttered at the thought of Princess Bubblegum's smile, it was flawless to her.

The princess had smiled quite a lot in their meetings, usually when Marceline had made a joke and it prompted her to make even more jokes, sometimes she would just make a joke out of anything purely to see that smile.

"You're doing it again." Flame Princess's voice pulled Marceline back to reality.

"Glob damn it." she hissed.

The flaming princess had observed how Marceline would go off in a daydream-y world whenever Princess Bubblegum was mentioned and although she found it sweet, she tried to inform the vampire whenever it happened.

"Does Candy Kingdom even own a T.V?" Marceline asked, her mind flitting back to their idea with the movies.

"Beats me, you're the one that's there every night."

The vampire was too embarrassed to admit that every night she visited Candy Kingdom, she hadn't really paid attention to anything other than Princess Bubblegum. "I...don't think they do. Well, there goes that plan!" she sighed.

Flame Princess pulled a face before something inside her mind clicked. "Take yours!" she urged.

Marceline stared at her blankly. "How am I supposed to take my T.V all the way over to Candy Kingdom?"

"You've got vampire strength, I'm sure you'll manage."

"I'm not _that_ strong."

Flame Princess scratched her head in thought for a moment before stretching her arms out and aiming them at Marceline's T.V.

She muttered a phrase that the vampire assumed was fire language before the television shrunk to the size of a mobile phone.

"That's rad and all...but how do I get it back to normal size?" Marceline asked.

"Oh!" The princess had obviously not thought of that and quickly pulled some red paper from her back and scribbled on it with fire that shot from her fingertips before handing it to her friend.

Marceline foolishly grabbed the paper then instantly dropped it, turning to look at her now burned hand. "That was hot!"

"I did write it in fire, Marce." Flame Princess rolled her eyes. "Blow on it."

The vampire pulled her hair away from her face to avoid it catching fire and blew on the paper, the flames instantly dying and revealing two phrases. She recognised one as the spell that shrunk the T.V and guessed the other one was the spell to enlarge it.

"Hey, look." The burning princess nodded towards Marceline's door.

Marceline approached her door and looked out of it, realising that the sky outside was beginning to get dark.

"Oh boy." she breathed, suddenly feeling nervous about seeing the princess.

She glanced down at her outfit, "I can't go like this!" she referred to her usual t-shirt and shorts combo.

"I'll let you get ready. Good luck, I'll drop by tomorrow...if you're here." her friend winked as she left.

* * *

Marceline groaned as she threw another ripped t-shirt out of her closet.

Why didn't she have any clothes that were smart-looking?

She considered wearing her grey button-up, but she wore that a lot when she went to see the princess.

The vampire almost laughed at how much she cared about her appearance now.

Her grey hands threw yet another t-shirt out until she had emptied her closet apart from one item.

She floated further in and pulled it out.

Her eyes fell upon a red plaid shirt, it instantly flooding back memories.

_"Marcy!" Princess Bubblegum pounded on the vampire's door, with a light package under her arms._

_"Yo." Marceline pulled the door open, letting the princess step inside._

_"I-I got you something." Bubblegum handed Marceline the present._

_The vampire blushed. "You did? Why?"_

_"Well...it is your birthday...and you said you never get gifts. It's not too girly, I promise!"_

_Marceline chuckled lightly and unwrapped the present, running her hands along the material inside._

_"Woah, this is really nice, Bonni."_

_"I thought you'd like it."_

_The vampire threw the wrapping paper aside and unfolded the red, plaid shirt._

_"Put it on!" Princess Bubblegum took the shirt from Marceline and moved to stand behind her friend, putting the shirt on her._

_"It...it looks great."_

_"It's not done up yet, silly." Bubblegum moved back round to the front of Marceline and slowly fastened the buttons, smoothing the vampire's collar down._

_"I like it."_

_"I like it too." the princess smiled, wrapping her arms around Marceline in a tight hug._

The vampire sighed, wondering whether she should wear the shirt or not. The material stretched slightly as she played with it in her hands.

Marceline sighed then realised she was running out of time so she pulled the shirt on over her t-shirt and done it up, remembering to smooth the collar down.

She ran her hands through her hair, fluffing it up before floating back downstairs.

Marceline picked up her tiny T.V and placed it in her pocket, grabbing the stack of DVDs on the way out.

* * *

"Glob damn it!" The princess moaned out loud.

She was in her bedroom, trying to find something that she had missed on the list of demands from Vampire Kingdom. Her eyes searched the paper for a fourth time but they had covered everything.

Marceline had been unusually focused when it came to her kingdom.

"Glob damn what, Bon?" came the smooth voice she loved so much.

"Marceline." the princess smiled, turning round and pulling the vampire to the ground, wrapping her arms around her friends cool neck.

Marceline gave a small smile as she felt the princess sink into her chest. The fluttering feeling that she got whenever Bubblegum crossed her mind intensified as she held the object of her recent affections in her arms, enjoying every moment.

Princess Bubblegum was feeling a similar way, trying her hardest to warm Marceline's cold skin up. Just the fact that she was a vampire worried the princess, knowing that the girl she loved was dead felt odd to her. But, anything about Marceline seemed extremely odd to her. She was accustomed to people falling at her feet and begging for her attention but Marceline did none of that.

The vampire treated Princess Bubblegum as an equal and proved to Bubblegum that she wasn't above shutting her friend out as she had done once before.

The feeling of knowing she had to make an effort to keep Marceline wasn't something the princess was used to. But, she knew she wouldn't give up.

Princess Bubblegum felt something push against her chest and pulled away from the dwindling hug in confusion.

"What are you holding?" she asked, eyeing the stack of boxes that were in a small bag Marceline had attached to her.

The vampire raised an arm and rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly. "Well..." she began, suddenly feeling apprehensive. "I-I thought that...you know, when the royal junk is over...you might wanna watch some movies?"

"Don't we need BMO for that?"

"Nah, I got some pre-war movies from a friend."

Princess Bubblegum smiled, maybe Marceline wouldn't have to leave so soon.

Her heart then sank as soon as it lifted when realisation dawned upon her. "I don't have anything to watch pre-war movies on." she sighed.

Marceline plunged her grey hand into her bag and pulled out a tiny device that fitted into the palm of her cold hand.

"It's...a bit...small." The princess tried not to seem ungrateful.

"W-wait." Marceline placed the tiny device on the floor and reached into her bag yet again, this time pulling out a piece of paper.

The vampire chanted a phrase in a foreign language and the T.V enlarged to full size.

The princess's heart swelled, Marceline had gone to all this trouble, just so they could watch movies.

"So, let's get the royal junk out of the way-"

"There is no royal junk tonight, the couriers didn't show up." Princess Bubblegum smiled, sitting on the floor in front of the T.V and inviting Marceline to join her.

"Heh." Marceline smiled again, putting the first movie in the T.V and sitting down next to the princess.

The movie began when it's genre became apparant to Princess Bubblegum.

"Horror movies...really, Marcy?"

Marceline was shocked at the princess's use of her nickname, one that she had obviously refrained from using recently.

"They were the only ones my friend had, they're good...for sleepovers." The vampire ventured.

"Best friend sleepovers like this?" Princess Bubblegum greatly enjoyed the idea of a sleepover with Marceline and purely used the 'best friend' term so as not to scare the vampire off.

Marceline's heart sank. "Yeah..." she mumbed. "Best friend sleepovers."

"These aren't even scary." Bubblegum laughed at the first movie as the plot of the story thickened.

"I guess not." The vampire replied, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Princess Bubblegum was also trying to hide something, how nervous she was getting at being so close to Marceline, knowing that she would have to stay like this all night.

She reached above her head and pulled her blanket down from her bed, which they were both leaning against, draping it over Marceline as well as herself.

The vampire was shocked at the movement, but wrapped the blanket tightly around her neck, resting her hands on top of it, enjoying the faint smell of bubblegum that wafted off of it.

* * *

They were into the second movie and both of the girls had tried their hardest to focus on what was happening on the screen and not their burning feelings for each other.

Marceline had subconciously wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, clinging to it slightly.

They had made it through the first movie without being scared too much, the princess found it scarier than the vampire did.

Admittedly, this one was slightly scarier.

Bubblegum had to distract herself from the movie to stop herself from being terrified and tried to make conversation with her friend.

"This...was really sweet, Marcy." she mumbled. "I've been really stressed recently an-"

"I know." The vampire replied, smiling. "I can see that junk's been getting to you."

"I never knew you were this compassionate."

"Yeah, don't tell anyone though. I've got a reputation to uphold." Marceline smirked.

The princess had been completely distracted by the movie and was now looking at Marceline out of the corner of her eye, the vampire's eyes fixated on the screen still.

"You're an angel disguised." she mumbled under her breath.

The vampire swore she could hear the princess mumble something. "You're gonna have to speak up, Bonni. I can't hear you over this guy's guts being spilled."

Princess Bubblegum turned her attention back to the movie just in time to see a particularly gory, scary scene.

She jumped and grabbed the nearest thing to her hand.

She blushed when she realised she had grabbed Marceline's hand.

The action caused the vampire to jump, though she made it convincing enough for the princess to blame it on the movie.

Marceline entwined their fingers, trying her best to comfort the princess, who looked terrified.

Bubblegum _was _terrified. But, it wasn't due to the movie. She was holding Marceline's hand and that terrified her the most...terrified and excited her.

The princess was confusing when she felt a lump on her friend's hand.

She pulled the vampire's hand closer to her face and held it in both of hers, examining the burnt palm.

"What happened?" she asked.

Marceline glanced up to see the princess observing her burnt hand. She waved it away with her free hand. "Oh, that. I burnt it, no biggie."

Princess Bubblegum took her friend's hand again and once again interlocked their fingers.

* * *

The third movie was by far the most terrifying the princess had even seen.

Marceline still seemed untouched by the content of these pre-war films but Bubblegum was mortified.

The girls had moved closer to one another, Marceline being the main culprit of this. When she had stood up to put in the next film, she had sat down closer to the princess and once again, took her hand.

Neither of them commented on this hand-holding situation, both just accepted it, hoping the other wouldn't pull away any time soon.

A particularly gritty and jumpy scene of the third movie sent the princess flying...straight into Marceline's chest, causing the vampire to fall over too.

They both laid on the floor, Princess Bubblegum trembling into the vampire, who wrapped her slender arms around the princess protectively, trying to focus on the T.V and not the fact that Bubblegum was in her arms.

The pair stayed like that for a few minutes. Princess Bubblegum breathing in Marceline for as long as she possibly could, while the vampire did the same. Both knowing the moment could end at any second.

Marceline felt something in her chest, a steady, but rapid beating...one she hadn't felt for a thousand years.

Was her heart beating?

She shook her head, it was impossible for her heart to beat.

The vampire glanced down at her chest, noticing that Princess Bubblegum's heart was in line with hers.

The princess's heart was beating so fast that Marceline could feel it in her own fast.

"Geez, Bonni." She broke the comfortable silence. "How fast is your heart beating?"

Princess Bubblegum then opened her eyes, her vision locking on Marceline's neck. She then realised that her heart was indeed beating incredibly fast. "I-I couldn't exactly tell you the exact BPM...I have no method of-" she tried her best to confuse Marceline with science talk before the vampire cut her off.

"It's a rhetorical question, nerd-butt." she teased, but found her hands playing with Bubblegum's sticky hair. "If the movie scares you that much, maybe we should turn it of-"

It was the princess's turn to interrupt. "No." she said. "You were right...it's good for sleepovers."

The vampire's cheeks heated up in another blush that she prayed the princess couldn't see.

The movie drew to a close and Marceline sighed inaudibly, knowing that she'd have to break the embrace apart to change the movie.

"Another one?" she asked the princess, who was still buried in her chest.

She felt Bubblegum nod and pulled away, moving to put the next movie in.

"I-I'm tired, Marcy." the princess yawned as the vampire returned to lay behind the princess, who had turned to face the T.V.

The vampire felt a surge of courage go through her.

It was now or never.

She slowly placed an arm around the princess's waist, caressing it slightly underneath the blanket.

"Stay awake...for me?" she mumbled, purposely into Bubblegum's ear.

The princess felt goosebumps surge through her body. "W-why?" she asked, curious as to why the vampire would want her to stay awake when they were both clearly tired. She turned around, making sure Marceline's arm still trapped her under the blanket and looked at her friend dead in the eyes.

"I-I don't wanna miss anything." she said, simply.

Bubblegum giggled. "Marceline, what would you possibly miss if I fell asleep."

Marceline took a deep breath, she didn't need to but it helped to calm her increasing nerves. "You." she spoke softly, moving her head down until it was a few centimetres away from Princess Bubblegum's.

The princess couldn't find the right words for the situation. She had been swept of her feet by Marceline before but never like this. She had never felt anything this strong before. The vampire captivated her with everything she did, destroying every tiny bit of knowledge she had ever absorbed.

Bubblegum gave into her urges and closed the gap between their faces, catching Marceline in a soft kiss which was soon deepened when the vampire slid her forked tongue over the princess's lip, who allowed the vampire to gently massage her own tongue.

Marceline tightened her grip on Princess Bubblegum, shifting her so close that their bodies were pressed together.

They had both lost all interest in the movie completely as they pulled apart for the princess to breathe.

"M-Marcy...this isn't what friends do." she observed, almost hitting herself for making such a stupid comment.

The vampire once again felt courageous. "Neither of us wanted friendship...admit it."

"I-I..." Princess Bubblegum once again found herself at a loss for words and filled the silence by crashing her lips into Marceline's, giving a tiny moan as she felt fangs graze across her lip.

They spent the rest of the night cuddled tightly together, Marceline occasionally leaning in to enjoy the taste of bubblegum that lingered on the princess's lips.

The horror movies were long forgotten.


	5. The reunion

Princess Bubblegum was woken up by a loud bang on the floor.

"Wha?" she sat up instantly, trying to make sense of the situation she was in.

The last thing she could remember was kissing Marceline, the rest of the night was pretty much the same, until the vampire had eventually fallen asleep.

The princess then turned her attention to the source of the loud bang.

Marceline was pulling her boots on and had almost fallen over.

"Marcy...what are you doing?" she asked, at the sight of the vampire obviously getting ready to leave.

She propped herself up against her hands, which were on the floor. "Are you leaving?" she asked, quietly.

Marceline noticed that the princess was up and quickly dropped to her knees on the floor next to Bubblegum, raising a hand to her pink face.

"Yeah...I don't have any protective clothes to go home any later, I'm gonna be cutting it close as it is." The vampire stroked Princess Bubblegum's face slowly with her thumb, which was cold as always.

"Y-you'll come back though, right?" Bubblegum felt paranoid, reaching for Marceline's hand and holding it with both of her own hands.

What if Marceline treated her as a friend when she came back, if all the time they spent together the night before was overlooked by the vampire?

Marceline chuckled softly. "Of course I'm coming back...I've got a kingdom to run...and a princess to see."

Princess Bubblegum looked up at Marceline and suddenly realised what she was wearing.

The princess raised her own hand to place it on the vampire's shoulder, slowly stroking the material of the shirt.

"Y-you're wearing the shirt." she observed, quietly.

"Yeah." Marceline removed her hand from the princess to pull her shirt out at the bottom, glancing down. "I've been wearing it all night." she laughed as she brought her face back up.

"I...I didn't-"

"I don't blame you for being distracted." The vampire teased, sticking her tongue out slightly.

The princess rolled her eyes at Marceline. "Shut up." she tried not to laugh, she knew that if she encouraged Marceline she'd never hear the end of it.

The rising sun outside bathed the room in a dim orange glow.

"Okay...I really need to go or I'm going to get burned Bonni." The vampire sighed, leaning in and kissing Princess Bubblegum on the forehead. "Try not to give me too much work tonight."

"I'll try." Bubblegum replied, playing with her hands. "As you can imagine...we have things to discuss this evening...regarding last night."

"That's cool, I'll be back when this stupid sun goes down. See ya." Marceline smirked, floating out of the window and back to her lair.

* * *

Marceline landed in her cave and checked the back of her arms for burns, she had only just missed the sun and it was now shining brightly.

She noticed a figure standing by her front door, looking at her with a smirk.

"Flame Princess?"

"I _knew _you'd be out all night!" Flame Princess laughed as she saw the vampire walking towards her.

Marceline blushed slightly. "I-I..."

"Explain in a minute, I want to know everything." The princess smiled as Marceline opened the door to her house.

Schwabl barked as soon as the girls stepped into the house. "No, Schwabl..." the vampire moaned. "It's too early."

The poodle stopped barked and simply nuzzled his owner's legs, causing her to bend down and pick him up, stroking him gently.

"So, what happened? Did the movies work?" Flame Princess sat down on the sofa, which still had foil on it from the previous day.

"Um, you could say that."

"Oh my Glob! So are you dating now?"

"N-no..." Marceline sighed. "It's...complicated I guess. There's a lot of junk to work out. I mean, it was just kissing. Nothing like...the last time."

"I told you she liked you!" Flame Princess smiled, causing Marceline to blush slightly and drop her head. "What were the movies like?"

"Lame." The vampire chuckled. "Really, really lame. The first one wasn't even scary."

"Really? They scared Finn's buns off! Are you going back to Candy Kingdom tonight?"

Marceline smirked, glancing at the floor. "Y-yeah. Bonni said we needed to talk."

Flame Princess smiled at her friend. "That can only mean good things. What are you going to talk about?"

"Feelings and junk I guess." The vampire leaned back, crossing her arms lazily behind her head.

"Marceline, I'm so happy for you!" Flame Princess smiled. "I can't wait to tell Finn and Ja-"

Marceline sat up, shaking her head. "No, no, no. Don't tell them."

The burning princess looked at the vampire with a look of confusion across her face. "Why not? I mean, they're your friends. They'll be happy for you too!"

"Bonni...wouldn't approve..."

Flame Princess smiled at Marceline and stood up to walk out. "I'll let you rest, you're probably...tired. I'm staying with Finn for a few days if you need me."

The vampire smiled at her friend as she left out but sighed as soon as the door was closed.

She couldn't push out the paranoia that Princess Bubblegum would push her away again, that things would get too hard.

Schwabl jumped up onto the sofa and nuzzled Marceline's stomach, sniffing her clothes.

"Why are you sniffing me little guy, do I sti-" Marceline began to smell her clothes when the sweet smell of bubblegum hit her notrils and tugged at her heartstrings.

"I smell like Bonni...do you like that smell, Schwabl?" she smiled as the poodle began to sniff her more.

She stroked her pet gently, gazing into his fur. "So do I."

* * *

Princess Bubblegum sighed as she was handed a stack of papers from Peppermint Butler.

"Suggestions from the candy people, your majesty." he bowed.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked. "There's so much here and I'm meeting Marceline in a few hours!"

Peppermint Butler gazed at the princess curiously, she had never seemed this anxious before a meeting with the Vampire Queen before. The only other times when she was acting this way wa-

"Your majesty, please forgive me for intruding, but might I ask what the nature of this meeting with the Vampire Queen is? Personal or business?"

Bubblegum instantly looked up from her work, turning around to look at the peppermint in confusion.

She considered lying to him, telling him that it was purely business and she was just stressed out. But, something in his eyes told her that he wouldn't believe anything but the actual truth.

"If you must know..." she began, swallowing the lump that had been forming in her throat. "...it is a personal meeting between Marceline and I."

The butler nodded, his own suspicions being confirmed.

He was aware that the vampire stayed the night at Candy Kingdom, he smiled as he realised that perhaps the princess and the vampire were finally able to realise the chemistry between them.

Almost everybody that witnessed them in the same room together could see it. Several candy people had noticed it and approached Peppermint Butler about the subject, inquiring about the status of their relationship.

The butler had always simply chuckled and shook his head, confirming that, in fact, the couple despised each other and every single candy citizen that had asked left the room in a confused state.

The energy in the room between the pair was always electric, Princess Bubblegum was always more on edge and jumpy when it came to Marceline. The vampire was often the same.

Marceline usually showed a complete lack of emotion in public but always seemed to be overdramatic when it came to Princess Bubblegum.

"What are you smiling at?" The princess's voice edged on paranoia and it brought the peppermint back from his thoughts.

"N-nothing, your majesty." He reached forward and took the pile of papers off of her desk. "I'll fill out all of the paper work for you, princess."

Bubblegum simply stared at him. "Why? I can do it myself."

"With all due respect, your majesty..." he ventured. "You seem to have something else on your mind right now and I couldn't possibly expect you fill out trivial paperwork."

Princess Bubblegum's heart lept into her throat, was she making it that obvious?

But then again, her butler had always picked up on her subtle hints before, even if she wasn't hinting he seemed to know what was going on.

"V-very well." she nodded. "I do have a lot on my mind, you're correct."

The butler turned to leave but turned back around, his eyes just visible over the stack of the paperwork. "Your majesty, I have been your butler since you were first crowned, and I have been the butler for your parents aswell. Is there something perhaps that you wish to share? Only if you please though, your highness."

Princess Bubblegum was touched by the gesture, she had always thought of the peppermint as a friend, and he was the only person around to talk to right now and talking would be easier than stewing on the thoughts orbiting around her head.

"Yes, actually." she stood up and took the papers from the butler, placing them back down on her desk and sitting on her bed.

Peppermint Butler stood infront of the princess and straightened his bowtie. "What's wrong, princess?"

"I-..." she began but hesitated, looking at the butler. He was gazing up at her, trying his best to silently assure her that everything would be okay. "It's Marceline." she mumbled.

"Has she done something wrong?" the butler was suddenly defensive.

"No." The princess laughed, shaking her head and fiddling with her fingers. "Quite the opposite actually...she's...she's perfect."

Peppermint Butler smiled inwardly to himself, so the princess had finally figured it out. "Then, what seems to be the problem? Does she not feel the same way?"

Princess Bubblegum shook her head again, giving a tiny smile, reminiscing on the previous night. "She feels the same. It's just...it's going to be very, very difficult. We had tried to pursue a relationship before but my own paranoia and lack of confidence due to the difficulty of keeping it up pushed her away...and she left, for a hundred years. I've loved her from the start, I couldn't possibly lose her agai-"

She clamped her hand over her mouth when she realised she had just told all of this to her butler.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this." She almost laughed at herself.

"I find it fascinating, your highness." Peppermint Butler smiled at her. "I very rarely witness true love. I of course was lucky enough to witness it between your parents, but I have never found it myself and it warms my heart to stand by your side as you discover it too."

"T-true love?"

The peppermint nodded. "If you don't mind me saying, the chemistry between you is more than obvious. On many occasions I have had various candy people inquire about the state of your relationship together. Maybe I won't have to disappoint them anymore." he smiled.

Princess Bubblegum suddenly felt self-conscious. Had her feelings really been that noticeable? She blushed slightly. "T-thank you, peppermint."

Peppermint Butler placed a hand on the princess's shoulder. "I'll make sure nobody disturbs you tonight, your majesty."

The princess blushed even more and widened her eyes. "I-I...that would be best."

* * *

Marceline gazed at her reflection for longer than she should have, earning her a look from her poodle.

"Don't look at me like that." she chuckled. "I've gotta look good!"

She was wearing just a t-shirt and jeans, but she was making sure they were spotless.

Schwabl growled a little and curled up on the bed, sensing that his owner was about to go out.

"I'll be home soon, little guy." she smiled, floating over to him and kissing the top of his head.

He barked as she floated downstairs. "Wish me luck!" she called as she closed the front door behind her.

The vampire arrived at Candy Kingdom faster than she had expected, it was dark outside but a warm glow came from the top of the princess' tower.

She slowly approached and looked through the window, smiling as she saw Princess Bubblegum hard at work.

Carefully, she unlatched the window and climbed inside, trying not to make a sound.

"Hey..." she greeted, raising her arm to a tiny wave.

Princess Bubblegum turned around and almost jumped off of her chair, throwing her arms around Marceline and pulling the vampire to the ground.

"Woah, someone missed me." Marceline chuckled, wrapping her arms around the princess and pulling her close.

"Yes, I did." Bubblegum sighed into her friend's shoulder. "We need to talk."

Marceline pulled away slightly but kept the princess in her arms. "Sure, is there no kingdom junk tonight?"

"There was but it's gone now. Peppermint Butler is taking care of it."

"Then what were you working on?"

Princess Bubblegum's mind flashed to the words she had been scribbling on the piece of paper. She had been doing what any logical person would've done in her situation, plotting out the good points and bad points of making the decision.

"J-just a few notes..." she mumbled, hoping Marceline wouldn't pick up on her nervousness.

The vampire was an expert at reading body language and immediately rushed over to the desk, picking up the piece of paper and reading it.

"_Consequences: Not being accepted by the kingdom. Distraction from royal duties...applies to both parties. _

_Pros: LOVE."_

Marceline tilted her head in confusion. "Is this the pros and cons of being with me?"

Princess Bubblegum nodded shyly.

"Not many pros here, Bonni." the vampire chuckled.

"I didn't put down every little thing..." came the reply. "I'd use a lot of paper."

Marceline blushed slightly. "So...we need to talk?"

Princess Bubblegum screwed up the piece of paper and nodded, sitting on her bed and swinging her legs over the edge, gazing at them.

The vampire slowly moved to sit down next to the princess, almost mimicking her movements.

"So..." Marceline began.

"I love you Marcy." Princess Bubblegum jumped in, turning to face her friend and gripping her grey hands. "I always have, I'm so sorry. I-I just wasn't ready, I was terrified. I still am."

"Why are you scared?" Marceline glanced up at the princess.

"B-because I'm not in control when I'm around you. Usually I can solve equations simply and work out what to say in an instant! But, it's different with you in the room, I stumble over everyday words and I just want to forget about everything and be with you. I can't do that, Marceline. I can't just let go. I have a kingdom to look after."

The vampire sighed. "I know. I know you can't drop everything for me, and that's fine, now. Sure, it's not ideal but who cares? I love you too. Glob knows it's not gonna be easy, and I probably should've asked this way before instead of just-forget about it. But, will you give this a shot? Give _me _a shot?"

Princess Bubblegum smiled and moved a hand up to place it on Marceline's face, giggling as the vampire nuzzled her face into it. "There's nothing I'd like more in the whole of Ooo."

Marceline smirked and shot her arm out, pulling the princess onto her lap, earning a small squeal from the pink haired girl.

"How are we gonna tell Finn?" Marceline chuckled.

"Finn is the least of my worries right now." Princess Bubblegum placed her hands firmly on Marceline's neck and leaned in, her lips colliding with the vampire's.

The kiss was deepened until eventually the princess had to pull away for air.

Peppermint Butler smiled as he stood against the wall, listening to the conversation the girls had been having.

"Oh, thank Glob." he sighed and walked off down the hall.

**A/N: I'm sorry it's short! I'll make it up to you all by updating more frequently! I have a tumblr now too: georgia-and-the-scream-queens - go and follow:3 I post pretty much daily Bubbline one-shots and I'm doing the 30 day-otp challenge right now! **


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